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GLERL Great Lakes Air Temperature/Degree Day Climatology, 1897-1983

Summary

Daily maximum and minimum temperatures for 25 stations around the Great Lakes, 1897 to 1983, were given to NSIDC by the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), Ann Arbor, MI. Daily data can be used to produce daily maximum, minimum and mean temperatures, and seasonal accumulations of freezing and thawing degree days. The statistical data are archived in ASCII text files transcribed from 25 reels of 35 mm microfilm, one roll per station. Microfilm rolls are the appendices to Assel (1980), with updates covering 1978 to 1983 spliced to the end of each microfilm roll. Data sources include U.S. Department of Commerce summaries of meteorological data for Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York, and the monthly meteorological observations published by Environment Canada.

Access to the GLERL Great Lakes Air Temperature/Degree Day Climatology, 1897-1983, data set is unrestricted, but users are encouraged to register for the data. Registered users will receive e-mail notification about any product changes.

2. Overview

The data set of daily minimum and maximum air temperatures at 25 locations on the perimeter of the Great Lakes for the period 1897 to 1983 can be used to calculate freezing degree-days (FDD's) and thawing degree-days (TDD's).

3. Detailed Data Description

The data set consists of files in the table below, and a FORTRAN routine for accessing the data. Note that this code was developed on an SGI running IRIX 4.0.1 and is only intended as a template and may require updates by the user for the appropriate operating system. The files containing "77" within the file name refer to the data used for Assel, 1980 (GLERL-15) while the "83" files refer to the updates used for Assel, 1986 (GLERL-29). The data for 1977 contained in the "83" files supersedes the 1977 data in the "77" file. Note that the data for Escanaba, MI was supplemented with data from Fayette, MI for 1978 to 1980. The data from stations in Midland, Ontario and Standish, MI were used to replace data from Parry Sound, Ontario, and Bay City, MI respectively. Note that for the files covering 1977 to 1983 for the stations in Ontario Canada, the data is reported in degrees C to the nearest 0.1 degree. For example, -110 indicates -11.0 C.

File

Description

File

Description

alp77.dat

Data for Alpena, MI from 1897 to 1977

mil77.dat

Data for Milwaukee, WI from 1897 to 1977

alp83.dat

Data for Alpena, MI from 1977 to 1983

mil83.dat

Data for Milwaukee, WI from 1977 to 1983

bci77.dat

Data for Bay City, MI from 1897 to 1977

mqt77.dat

Data for Marquette, MI from 1897 to 1977

buf77.dat

Data for Buffalo, NY from 1897 to 1977

mqt83.dat

Data for Marquette, MI from 1977 to 1983

buf83.dat

Data for Buffalo, NY from 1977 to 1983

msk77.dat

Data for Muskegon, MI from 1897 to 1977

chi77.dat

Data for Chicago, IL from 1897 to 1977

msk83.dat

Data for Muskegon, MI from 1977 to 1983

chi83.dat

Data for Chicago, IL from 1977 to 1983

osw77.dat

Data for Oswego, NY from 1897 to 1977

clv77.dat

Data for Cleveland, OH from 1897 to 1977

osw83.dat

Data for Oswego, NY from 1977 to 1983

clv83.dat

Data for Cleveland, OH from 1977 to 1983

pas77.dat

Data for Parry Sound, Ontario from 1897 to 1977

det77.dat

Data for Detroit, MI from 1897 to 1977

pas83.dat

Data for Parry Sound, Ontario from 1979 to 1983

det83.dat

Data for Detroit, MI from 1977 to 1983

ptd77.dat

Data for Port Dover, Ontario from 1897 to 1977

dul77.dat

Data for Duluth, MN from 1897 to 1977

ptd83.dat

Data for Port Dover, Ontario from 1977 to 1983

dul83.dat

Data for Duluth, MN from 1977 to 1983

pth77.dat

Data for Port Huron, MI from 1897 to 1977

eri77.dat

Data for Erie, PA from 1897 to 1977

pth83.dat

Data for Port Huron, MI from 1977 to 1983

eri83.dat

Data for Erie, PA from 1977 to 1983

roc77.dat

Data for Rochester, NY from 1897 to 1977

esc77.dat

Data for Escanaba, MI from 1897 to 1977

roc83.dat

Data for Rochester, NY from 1977 to 1983

esc83.dat

Data for Escanaba, MI from 1977 to 1983

ssm77.dat

Data for Sault Ste. Marie, MI from 1897 to 1977

ftw77.dat

Data for Fort William/Thunder Bay, Ontario from 1897 to 1977

ssm83.dat

Data for Sault Ste. Marie, MI from 1977 to 1983

ftw83.dat

Data for Fort William/Thunder Bay, Ontario from 1977 to 1983

stn83.dat

Data for Standish, MI from 1977 to 1983

grb77.dat

Data for Green Bay, WI from 1897 to 1977

tol77.dat

Data for Toledo, OH from 1897 to 1977

grb83.dat

Data for Green Bay, WI from 1897 to 1977

tol83.dat

Data for Toledo, OH from 1977 to 1983

hou77.dat

Data for Houghton, MI from 1897 to 1977

tor77.dat

Data for Toronto, Ontario from 1897 to 1977

hou83.dat

Data for Houghton, MI from 1977 to 1983

tor83.dat

Data for Toronto, Ontario from 1977 to 1983

kin77.dat

Data for Kingston, Ontario from 1897 to 1977

tvc77.dat

Data for Traverse City, MI from 1897 to 1977

kin83.dat

Data for Kingston, Ontario from 1977 to 1983

tvc83.dat

Data for Traverse City, MI from 1977 to 1983

mid83.dat

Data for Midland, Ontario from 1976 to 1981

degree_day.f

FORTRAN routine to extract data

Parameters

Air temperature, degree days, maximum/minimum temperature

Spatial and Temporal Coverage and Resolution

Daily minimum and maximum air temperatures at 25 locations on the perimeter of the Great Lakes for the period 1897 to 1983.

Format

ASCII

Sample Data Record

The first number in the data record denotes the station number where temperatures were recorded, the second the month (1-12) recorded, and the third the year. The remainder of the record contains 31 sets of daily maximum and minimum temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit. Records for months with less than 31 days end in zeros for both maximum and minimum temperatures to make the record the same lengths as 31 day months.

File Size

The entire data set is 14.8 MB.

4. Data Acquisition and Processing

Sensor or Instrument Description

Thermometers

Data Processing

The FORTRAN routine, degree_day.f, will read an input data file and extract the minimum and maximum temperatures and place these into an array. This program was developed on a SGI running IRIX 4.0.1 and is intended only as a template for the user.